Net Neutrality Is 'Marxist,' According to This Koch-Backed Astroturf Group.

I'm usually not too vehement a supporter of either side of an issue anymore, having become largely moderate in my 40's, but wishy-washy is not how I would describe myself. That said, I have rarely been stuck on the fence about an issue as much as I am on Net Neutrality. I hate the idea of un-regulated amoral big corporations having free reign over things, but on the flip-side, I abhor the idea of a corrupt and incompetent government sticking their hands into the internet - they ruin virtually everything they touch.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

jdreyer wrote on Aug 27, 2014, 06:35:I wonder if at some point Madden will go Free To Play. They'll include a couple of teams like the Bucs and the Browns, and all the other teams will have to be purchased as DLC.

EA would love to do that. Only $9.99 for your favorite team!

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

When it’s time to be a whistleblower, people will demand proof. It only makes sense. When no notable media sources provide this proof, the Internet’s fifth estate will snap to action and investigate for themselves. The investigation is hard, and it takes time. The proof comes in the form of links and images and text. As a result, people often have these reactions: “Could’ve been fake”, “Looks sketchy”, “I meant from a real source!” This is the fundamental problem with whistleblowing in the journalism industry. The journalists themselves have cornered the market on “legitimate sources” and “trustworthiness”. So when some Internet nobody rushes in to oppose them, their proof is never good enough.

If the “most trusted source” should happen to screw up, you’ll need to provide trustworthy proof of the incident. But if that proof doesn’t come from the “most trusted source”, who’s gonna believe it? That’s the catch-22 of journalistic whistleblowing. That’s why this has been an uphill battle for the people trying to indict Kotaku—a once beloved site—for its corruption.

That’s what’s so frustrating about all of this. We loved Kotaku, and Polygon, and VICE, and their “independent voices” in this otherwise-unbearable media environment. We came to trust them, and that trust doesn’t come easy. Only after we came to trust them did we read their articles faithfully, view their links as legitimate, and accept their messages as truth.

The people supporting the indie devs in this battle will look at a single piece of evidence and say: “Fake!” Those who stick around to look at a few more pieces of evidence say: “Well… they definitely could have altered these.” When hundreds of pieces of evidence from different sources and sites, from different people with different opinions, and from Zoe herself are gathered; dismissing the evidence as “fake” requires a whole new kind of zeal.

Yep.

Holy shit, you accepted Kotaku as some kind of bastion of integrity and truth? KOTAKU??

I... I don't even...

Unfortunately many gamers do. Or did, before this mess. If Kotaku is successful in their silencing campaign, they may still be.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

So when you go charging into an argument foaming at the mouth about feminism, social justice, and political correctness, people that have a moderate view of those things are going to think that you are batshit crazy/a dick.

Not really the case anymore. To a great many moderate people those words have taken on negative connotations. Blame the extremists. Vocal minority or not, they hijacked your causes as they are so apt to do.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

I think you illustrated the phenomenon I was trying to convey in which extremists hijack a cause and ruin it for the ones who genuinely meant well in the beginning. 'Feminism' is now synonymous with belligerent anti-masculinism thanks to the extremists.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Personally I don't like the term "social justice" for the same reason I don't like people like Sarkeesian and Quinn. They take a legitmate issue and agendize it to the point that the goal of a movement and/or meaning of a term mutates into something it was never intended to be. I like the idea of equal justice and treatment for everyone in society. But the term "social justice" has been used and abused by the "Social Justice Warriors" to the point that it has become a negative term for many. That's why it really fits in my mind. They don't stand for actual social justice. They satnd for their own warped vision of what they think justice should be.

The "If your not a feminist you're a misogynist" quote comes to mind.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

...The hypocrisy there sucks too, when a few idiotic men insult a woman suddenly all men are lumped in but when its a woman we're all just supposed to excuse it and pretend it doesn't affect perception...

Damn if that ain't the truth. Well said.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

And yes, many are implying it. Why else would they be extrapolating what Zoe is doing to other "SJWs?" What do you think is the main hypothesis of the above video? Why would people be using Zoe as a launching off point for long winded YouTube rants?

My take is that the Zoey Quinn thing (I hesitate to call it a "scandal" because it trivializes the word somewhat in my mind) is being used by some to show what hypocrites some SJW's are (Not all - some mean well and are honest if misguided). One could easily find many, many archived preachy, moralizing articles at places like Kotaku, RPS, The Escapist, and Destructoid that bash us over the head about what scum we gamers are for a myriad of things concerning this issue. Specifically we were told we suck as a whole because Zoe Quinn was harassed and the victim of misogyny which has now been proven a fabrication and apparently in relationships with those writing about it. That's a 'corruption in journalism' thing far more than a "sexism is phony" thing. Unfortunately the sexism issue is collateral damage when you consider that Zoe Quinn was a major champion against sexism and was caught fabricating it for publicity. Not only that, some in the videogame press were apparently complicit in it, and are still actively squashing the story as best they can. That sort of thing would harm any cause.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

May I ask, then, what you think people like Cutter, Mad Max, ASeven, etc., are doing to "fight sexism in gaming?"

What you fail to realize is that we, including those you listed as far as I know, are not IN the fight per se. At least I know I'm not - I can't "fight" anything when I am not in the industry to begin with. What I do is stand behind and encourage those that are in it who do the right things in the form of my posts. Only a select few here at Blues participate much in this issue beyond observers really. I don't think Cutter saying something a little boorish constitutes "sexism in the industry", do you?

("Zoe Quinn proves all women in gaming are frauds!")

Did anyone say that? If so I missed it. I don't really even remember anyone implying it.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

But just to keep things on topic, lets talk about actual sexism in gaming versus what the SJW's see as the issue. While I have always thought of Beamer as one of the misguided SJW's tha have been talked about so much in the last few days, I have to say I don't find him as dangerous as a true SJW like the blithering idiot Sarkeesian or now this rotten Zoe character. He does bring up interesting points of discussion even if I disagree with him more often than not.

He said:

What bugs me isn't that Zoe clearly seems to need mental help, but that so many here dismiss an entire, huge issue due to this, and in their dismissal seem to just verify the problem.

Basically we ("we" meaning those who are NOT Social Justice Warriors) are in a no-win situation. If we say ANYTHING along the lines of "this Zoe/5 guys mess basically validates what we have been saying all along" or that it illustrates the SJW hypocricy in the gaming press we are at best labeled 'head-in-the-sand' deniers of a great injustice or at worst classless misogynist pigs. But if we stay quiet, we basically are allowing the SJW's to further infect our hobby with their line of utter garbage. So speaking out against reprehensible shit like the filth spewing out of Sarkeesian's piehole or the nonsense this Zoe character has been pulling is, in the average SJW's mind, validation of the crap these nutjobs are pushing to the detriment of all gamers, male and female. What SJW's don't understand is that we view fighting SJW's and their toxic, infectious bullshit and fighting sexism in gaming as two separate things. I won't say that there aren't some here who deny any sexism exists at all, because there undoubtedly is, but many of us do but prioritize the issue far FAR lower because we try to keep it in perspective. SJW's want it to be the foremost topic of discussion in gaming at all times, which to me begs the question how could it still be called the "gaming" industry if we stop talking about games in any context other than which SJW is offended by which game today?

No, I absolutely think sexism is a problem in the gaming industry. It's just not a very big problem. Certainly not as big as the corruption and hypocricy all this exposes on the part of game journalism. The sexism issue is one that will sort itself out for the most part if the statistics like the one in Blue's "ETC." section, which shows women outnumbering young boys in gamer ranks today, are any indication. Sooner or later some of those women will want to be game designers badly enough to enter the fray, and if true sexism is keeping them from reaching that dream then I'll be the first to speak out against it. So far though, it's just not happening to any degree that I can see. The bigger issue is that there are so few women in game design, period. Do women designers (and those who aspire to be) currently have to put up with some boorishness by some less classy males in the industry? Undoubtedly. Is it right? Hell no. Often times in history one class or another has been forced to rise above and overcome such obstacles, paving the way for removal of said obstacles. I know rational reasonable, and most importantly NON-SJW-minded people are working to change that, and I applaud them. What is hurting the cause of sexual equality in gaming the most is the very thing the SJW's stand for because in it's utterly ridiculous extremes, it turns off rational thinking people to the cause, thereby weakening support. In short, if people use Sarkeesian or Zoe as a catalyst to start ignoring the overall sexism issue then that is to be blamed on the likes of Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn, RPS, Polytron and Kotaku, not the average gamer. The SJW's in gaming have destroyed any chance of the sexism problem being fixed until it basically fixes itself through time and understanding. In my view of course.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

As far as the football picks go, can I make all of mine now? Anytime the Jets play anyone I pick the other team. If the Giants play a team they are favored to beat I pick the other team. If the Giants play a team they match evenly with I pick the other team. If the Giants play a team they have no chance of winning I pick the Giants. Any time a team with an animal name plays a team with a human name (i.e. the Lions vs the Cowboys, the Steelers vs. The Dolphins) I pick the animal. If two animal teams play each other or two human teams play each other I pick who would win in a cage match. Some examples: a Bengal would eat a Raven no problem, and a Packer wouldn't stand a chance against a Viking. And you just know a goody-goody Saint would just get his ass handed to him by a salty Buccanneer. I mean, c'mon!).

I feel a winning season coming on for myself.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

I try to stay deliberately ignorant when pop-culture things like the "Ice Bucket Challenge" start getting mentioned everywhere from CNN to Facebook or going viral on youtube (I actually stayed ignorant of what "going viral" meant for the longest time). But alas, my curiosity got the better of me and I googled it. I don't really get what the fuss is about, but whatever, it's for charity.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

But just to keep things on topic, lets talk about actual sexism in gaming versus what the SJW's see as the issue. While I have always thought of Beamer as one of the misguided SJW's tha have been talked about so much in the last few days, I have to say I don't find him as dangerous as a true SJW like the blithering idiot Sarkeesian or now this rotten Zoe character. He does bring up interesting points of discussion even if I disagree with him more often than not.

He said:

What bugs me isn't that Zoe clearly seems to need mental help, but that so many here dismiss an entire, huge issue due to this, and in their dismissal seem to just verify the problem.

Basically we ("we" meaning those who are NOT Social Justice Warriors) are in a no-win situation. If we say ANYTHING along the lines of "this Zoe/5 guys mess basically validates what we have been saying all along" or that it illustrates the SJW hypocricy in the gaming press we are at best labeled 'head-in-the-sand' deniers of a great injustice or at worst classless misogynist pigs. But if we stay quiet, we basically are allowing the SJW's to further infect our hobby with their line of utter garbage. So speaking out against reprehensible shit like the filth spewing out of Sarkeesian's piehole or the nonsense this Zoe character has been pulling is, in the average SJW's mind, validation of the crap these nutjobs are pushing to the detriment of all gamers, male and female. What SJW's don't understand is that we view fighting SJW's and their toxic, infectious bullshit and fighting sexism in gaming as two separate things. I won't say that there aren't some here who deny any sexism exists at all, because there undoubtedly is, but many of us do but prioritize the issue far FAR lower because we try to keep it in perspective. SJW's want it to be the foremost topic of discussion in gaming at all times, which to me begs the question how could it still be called the "gaming" industry if we stop talking about games in any context other than which SJW is offended by which game today?

No, I absolutely think sexism is a problem in the gaming industry, just not a very big problem. One that will sort itself out for the most part if the statistics like the one in Blue's "ETC." section, which shows women outnumbering young boys in gamer ranks today, are any indication. Sooner or later some of those women will want to be game designers badly enough to enter the fray, and if true sexism is keeping them from reaching that dream then I'll be the first to speak out against it. So far though, it's just not happening to any degree that I can see. Do women designers currently have to put up with some boorishness by some less classy males in the industry? Undoubtedly. Is it right? Hell no. Often times in history one class or another has been forced to rise above and overcome such obstacles, paving the way for removal of said obstacles. I know rational reasonable, and most importantly NON-SJW-minded people are working to change that, and I applaud them. What is hurting the cause of sexual equality in gaming the most is the very thing the SJW's stand for because in it's utterly ridiculous extremes, it turns off rational thinking people to the cause, thereby weakening support. In short, if people use Sarkeesian or Zoe as a catalyst to start ignoring the overall sexism issue then that is to be blamed on the likes of Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn, RPS, Polytron and Kotaku, not the average gamer. The SJW's in gaming have destroyed any chance of the sexism problem being fixed until it basically fixes itself through time and understanding. In my view of course.

This comment was edited on Aug 24, 2014, 12:05.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi